Politics

Subscribe

[Breaking] ‘Tort Reform' Hits Brick Wall

UPDATE, 4 p.m.: After an apparent lunch meeting between Gov. Barbour, Speaker Billy McCoy and Senate President Pro Tem Travis Little, Sen. Charlie Ross, R-Brandon, announced on the floor that the Senate would reject HB 4, the tort-reform bill the House sent to conference committee this morning because they do not believe it will result in damage caps. The House will reconvene at 5 p.m.; the stalemate continues.

Alleged Racism at the Capitol

WLBT reported"Leading the charge was Representative Ed Blackmon (D-Canton), a key negotiator of tort reform. Blackmon and other committee leaders say they never talk face-to-face with senate leaders and Govenor Barbour about important issues. They feel things are done behind their backs. "

Leland Speed Touts ‘Creative Class'

A Clarion-Ledger story today about a Leland Speed speech talks about the "Creative Class" concept that we started talking about way back in our preview issue: "Other successes are discussed in The Rise of the Creative Class, by Richard Florida, he said. The book says successful locations sold themselves because people sought them first as places to live in, then they searched for a job. That goes against tradition, Speed said."

[Ladd] Ask the $34,000-A-Day Questions

In January, I wrote an editor's note about the governor that miffed some Democrats around the city. They told me I went too easy on Barbour. I wrote then that although his wink-wink, race-tinged, nationally financed campaign tactics had really turned me off, I still hoped that he really wanted to come in and bridge gaps, not widen chasms. I wrote: "It's up to Barbour. This wasn't our game; the new governor needs to convince me, and other Mississippians, that he deserves the benefit of our doubt. Can he do that? Sure, if he will."

Gatemouth Moore Funeral Service

You may have seen the press on Gatemouth Moore's passing on Thursday, a Yazoo City, MS resident. Rev. Moore's funeral will be on Tuesday, May 25, in Jackson, MS at the Pearl Street AME Church at 2519 Robinson Rd. at 11 AM. Arrangements are being handled by Shaffer-Collins Funeral Home, Yazoo City.

Bush Ratings Fall Steady, Predictable?

In Salon this week, economist James K. Galbraith challenges the conventional notion that the relvelations of torture and prisoner abuse in Iraq have caused Bush's current record dip in the polls. He makes a case that the decline has been steady over some time: "The four-month decline is a bit higher on average than Bush's long-run downward trend. But it is not much higher. It is not enough higher to show that anything exceptional has happened. In particular, February's decline is not significantly greater than normal. And May's decline is within the normal range of 0.6 percent, give or take, around the standard minus 1.6 percent -- the 95 percent confidence interval. This suggests that Abu Ghraib has not had any special effect on public opinion. Not yet, anyway.

Traffic Ticket Amnesty Day

The City of Jackson Municipal Court Services will hold a Traffic Ticket Amnesty Day, Tues., May 25, allowing citizens who have failed to take care of parking/traffic tickets to come in and take care of those infractions without the theat of arrest or having to pay warrant fees that may have accrued. Traffic ONLY, Does NOT apply to criminal cases. Come between 9 a.m.-1 p.m., and 3-8 p.m. to pay tickets OR appear before a judge. Traffic court will be open for all walk-ins to appear for all old or new traffic tickets. 218 W. Pearl St. 960-1932.

Stop the Blaming

Reason magazine's Cathy Young provides perspective on the attempt to place 9-11 blame: "With the 9/11 commission holding its hearings, the blame game is in full swing. It's Bush's fault. No, Clinton's. No, it's everyone's fault. No, it's no one's fault. And so it goes. Attorney General John Ashcroft goes before the panel and gets grilled on his lack of attention to terrorism pre-9/11. Ashcroft turns the tables and points the finger at panel member Jamie Gorelick, a former deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration, for tying law enforcement's hands with guidelines that made cooperation with intelligence agencies virtually impossible. Whether you think Ashcroft or Gorelick ended up in the hot seat generally depends on which one of them you'd like to see squirm. Everyone, it seems, is being confirmed in what they already know."

Lawmaker upset over beheading

Jeff Clark of the Daily Times reported Members of the Mississippi Congressional Delegation are outraged by the recent turn of events that have unfolded in Iraq, including the beheading of an American contractor and the allegations regarding Iraqi prisoner abuse.

Barbour refuses compromises on voter ID

Shelia Byrd of the AP reports "Gov. Haley Barbour says he won't accept a voter identification bill that exempts older people from proving who they are. Barbour has called lawmakers back to the Capitol for a special session that begins Wednesday, with civil justice changes and voter ID on the agenda. During the regular session, the House passed a voting bill that said people born before Jan. 1, 1940, would not have to show an ID. The exception addressed concerns that requiring ID could be used to intimidate older black voters who once had to pay poll taxes. "

Barbour: Of Course, Bush Will Take Mississippi

The Clarion-Ledger reports today: "Mississippi Republicans say President Bush can bank on a solid re-election showing here and in much of the South, but the latest poll shows him in a dead heat with Democratic rival Sen. John Kerry. ... Despite the fallout from the conflict in Iraq and U.S. abuses of Iraqi prisoners, Mississippi's GOP congressmen and Gov. Haley Barbour said they are confident Bush can hold onto the presidency."

Barbour calls special session

WDAM reports "Fulfilling his promise, Gov. Haley Barbour is calling lawmakers into special session next Wednesday to address changes to Mississippi's civil justice laws. Barbour announced the special session Thursday during a news conference at his Capitol office. He said the call also would include voter ID legislation."

Watch for tight school budgets through ‘06

Andy Kanengiser of the C-L reports"Mississippi public schools can expect to face hard times at least through 2006, key lawmakers said Thursday. School superintendents, left with weak budgets for the fiscal year beginning July 1, received the gloomy forecast at a meeting in Jackson. Senate Education Committee Chairman Mike Chaney, R-Vicksburg, said lawmakers can expect to face a shortfall of at least $270 million for next year. Rep. Cecil Brown, D-Jackson, told superintendents from Mississippi's 152 school districts that it will be 'very difficult next year, even with a good year of revenue growth.' The 2005 Legislature will face the same dilemma of trying to fund another round of 8 percent pay raises for teachers and taking care of many other needs, from Medicaid to prisons to expensive insurance plans, Brown said."

[Lott] Look at the Numbers

The economy is growing, and jobs are being created. But don't take my word for it. Just look at the latest numbers by the Department of Commerce. Virtually every economic indicator is up, and the U.S. Senate has moved decisively to keep the momentum going, passing a jobs bill to stimulate even more economic growth, specifically in the manufacturing and energy sectors.

Barbour Calls Special Session for Tort Reform, Voter ID

[Verbatim statement] Governor Haley Barbour is standing by his pledge to call lawmakers back to the Capitol since the House of Representatives failed to address lawsuit abuse during their Regular Session. Today he called a Special Session to address tort reform, which will convene at 1:00 p.m., Wednesday, May 19, 2004. Governor Barbour is also including the voter identification issue in the Special Session agenda. "I would have preferred for comprehensive tort reform to have been achieved during the Regular Session," Governor Barbour said. "Since it was not, this Special Session became necessary." While the Senate has been strongly supportive of tort reform, the House has not been allowed to vote on it.

Blogs

Video